The Sun investigation “Girls receive stiffer punishment” (Dec. 18) details the inequitable treatment that African-American girls face at the hands of Maryland’s juvenile justice system.
One of the best ways to serve this population is by keeping them out of the juvenile justice system in the first place by changing the way schools react to student behavior.
African-American girls are disproportionately impacted by overly punitive discipline practices that push students out of school and into the juvenile justice system, often for minor and subjective offenses. According the U.S. Department of Education, during the 2013-2014 school year, black girls were six times more likely to be suspended or expelled than white girls, and more likely to be suspended than every racial and ethnic group of boys besides black boys.
Read the full article here.
